Theater: Riverwalk's 'Conspiracy' electrified

Community theaters, particularly in small towns, often
rely on the tried and true. However, theater is far more exciting when
companies take risks. New and daring works can turn into overambitious
fiascos, but they can also soar higher than old standards when they
succeed.

This past year, two productions stood out as courageous
acts of theater. Riverwalk Theatre’s “Conspiracy” and Peppermint Creek
Theatre Co.’s “Blackbird” can surely credit their success to the
strength of the scripts and the extraordinary commitment of their
pro-bono cast and crews. But considerable credit should go to the
directors who helmed and/or proposed these ambitious projects, and to
the companies backing them. After all, neither show featured catchy
songs or cute laugh lines designed for a guaranteed buck. These were
engrossing, sometimes grossly descriptive dramas that forced audiences
to contemplate situations beyond their daily comfort zones — and they
were magnificent.'

On paper, “Conspiracy” seemed an impossibility. Transferring Loring Mandel's Emmy Award-winning television script to the stage with a first-time
community theater director, an enormous cast and a relatively tiny
budget should have prevented the production from ever beginning. The
story of 15 Nazis plotting the Holocaust over a lunch conference was
not — and was never intended to be — crowd-pleasing fluff. Yet director
James Houska persuaded Riverwalk Theatre leaders to consider Mandel's script
as a mainstage production. The final result impressed even the author. Innovative blocking that nearly neutralized the lack of
camera close-ups, strong acting from Michael Hays and others, plus a
stunningly detailed set and costumes combined to create a show that was
equally as riveting as the televised version.'

Peppermint Creek’s task seemed equally insurmountable. In
“Blackbird,” two actors had to believably portray an adult couple
seeing each other for the first time since their affair when he was 40
and she was 12. Doak Bloss and Angela Mishler did just that, taking
audiences on an exhausting and often heartbreaking journey that left
everyone speechless. Director Lela Ivey once again set a new high bar
for community productions, applying her brand of high-octane, dark,
twisted chemistry to an already volatile script and creating electric
performances that took days to digest.

Audiences that saw “Blackbird” understand that the show
went far beyond assumptions about pedophilia. They should also know
that this was one of Peppermint Creek’s most daring steps yet into the
realm of terrifying and awesome theater.